Bregenz Austria

By the Tuesday evening of our road trip I took the decision to change the plans as I felt we were all far too tired. The main problem was I had heard that we needed two days to visit Europa Park and if we didn’t go the next day that meant either visiting on the Bank Holiday (Thursday 31^st May) or only going once on the Friday – which was also before the extremely long drive home. We hadn’t been organised to even buy breakfast though, which meant that we would also be late setting off. Instead we decided to be a lot more low-key and head for Austria.

Where we were staying in Lindau was really close to the border and we were recommended driving to Bregenz. There we were able to get a 6 minute cable car ride up the Pfänder, allowing us to enjoy the view of the border area of Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Once we reached the top we were free to get out and enjoy the views – with plenty more to walk up and explore.

The hardest part of the day was parking as we literally had to sit and wait for people to come out of the spaces before we could go in. The cable car up wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences as up to 80 people can be squeezed into them and it was really hot. If you could get near a window then the views were very nice. In saying that I would still say it was worth it for the sights when you did reach the top, which included views of Lindau Island and Lake Constance. There were telescopes to see further and my husband and son used them and could see the snow on the mountains in Switzerland. There were toilets and souvenir shops there too; plenty of puzzles for the children and a Nature area with animals – we had a quick look but our parking was per 20 minutes so becoming quite costly. I am not sure how easy it is to drive up, but if possible may have been worth it. We then headed for Switzerland but were unsure if we would be able to park (with it being a different currency, them not being part of the EU and uncertain if my credit card could be used for parking). The boys had had enough of driving around and The Sensory Seeker especially just wanted to go swimming. We (that is the boys and I) didn’t realise how close we were but my husband just turned around and drove back to our camp. It was really hot until really late and the boys really enjoyed the outdoor pool.

We then had Bockwurste sausages with noodles. I was really beginning to wish I never saw another sausage! We also bought loads of chocolate with different flavour centers and had great fun sampling them and then doing a lucky dip on the leftover squares. We went down to see what was happening by the entertainment stage and there were fires with marshmallows. We had done really well with the weather but suddenly there was thunder and lightening and an almight storm. We got back to our caravan in time and loved watching it. When it calmed down the nice Eurocamp man came around to check that we were okay and that we hadn’t lost power or anything.  We were happy to settle down for the night then with a plan to visit the Black Forest the next day as it was the Bank Holiday.